Meet the Sunday League Team With Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a stellar experienced team who have won back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former pro players who have played at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you pursue additional silverware.

A Greater Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their squad list this season features nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League matches.

The elite team also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League players have secured 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for the club from 2016 and 2020

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"The movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

"I think I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

"We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we can't wait for the second fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager manages the opposition vets side, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Beth Davis
Beth Davis

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in SEO and content marketing, passionate about helping businesses thrive online.